sightseeing

History lessons

Yasukuni-jinja
3-1-1 Kudankita
Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo
Tel: +81 (03) 3261-8326
Kudanshita station (Hanzomon line)
Website
Open: Daily, 9am-4.30pm

The souls of 2.3m Japanese war dead, including soldiers and war criminals, are worshipped at Yasukuni, a Shinto shrine north-west of the Imperial Palace. The modern temple is built in classic Shinto style, with a simple facade and a gigantic torii (gate) marking the entrance. It is a peaceful and interesting place to visit, but it is also the site of political controversy.

Every year on August 15th (the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the second world war), leading politicians pay homage to the dead at Yasukuni. Their pilgrimage provokes annual outrage, especially from Koreans and Chinese who claim the shrine promotes Japanese nationalism. Emperors of Japan ceased to visit the shrine in 1979 after it was disclosed that the spirits of wartime prime minister Tojo Hideki and six other war criminals executed in l948 had been enshrined at Yasukuni. The disclosure of this action created a scandal that still simmers on.

A museum in the temple grounds, with displays on kamikaze pilots and military relics from the war, has been completely renovated. Try the official Yasukuni shrine website (see above) for more information, including the last letters of the kamikaze pilots of Japan in the final months of the second world war.